/1 1 *> 


\ am. 


THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  JOHN  F.  SLATER  FUND 

Occasional  Papers,  No.  10 


A STUDY 


IN 


BLACK  AND  WHITE 


An  Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Armstrong-Slater 
Trade  School  Building,  November  18,  1896 


BY 


DANIEL  C.  GILMAN 


BALTIMORE 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  TRUSTEES 
1897 


Price  25  Cents 


THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  JOHN  F.  SLATER  FUND 

Occasional  Papers,  No.  10 


A STUDY 

IN 

BLACK  AND  WHITE 


An  Address  at  the  Opening  of  the  Armstrong-Slater 
Trade  School  Building,  November  18,  1896 

BY 

DANIEL  C.  GILMAN 


BALTIMORE 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  TRUSTEES 
1897 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/studyinblackwhitOOgilm 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD, 


Appointed. 

1882.  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio.  *1893. 

1882.  Morrison  R.  Waite,  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  *1888. 

1882.  William  E.  Dodge,  of  New  York.  *1883. 

1882.  Phillips  Brooks,  of  Massachusetts.  1T889. 

1882.  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  of  Maryland. 

1882.  John  A.  Stewart,  of  New  York. 

1882.  Alfred  H.  Colquitt,  of  Georgia.  *1894. 

1882.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  of  New  York. 

1882.  James  P.  Boyce,  of  Kentucky.  *1888. 

1882.  William  A.  Slater,  of  Connecticut. 


Elected. 

1883.  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  of  New  York. 

1888.  Melville  W.  Fuller,  of  the  District  of  Columbia 

1889.  John  A.  Broadus,  of  Kentucky. 

1889.  Henry  C.  Potter,  of  New  York. 

1891.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

1894.  William  J.  Northen,  of  Georgia. 

1894.  Ellison  Capers,  of  South  Carolina. 

1894.  C.  B.  Galloway,  of  Mississippi. 

1895.  Alexander  E.  Orr,  of  New  York. 

1896.  William  L.  Wilson,  of  West  Virginia. 

From  1882  to  1891,  the  General  Agent  of  the  Trust  was  Rev.  A.  G.  Hay- 
good,  D.  D.,  of  Georgia,  who  resigned  the  office  when  he  became  a Bishop 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  Since  1891,  the  duties  of  a 
General  Agent  have  been  discharged  by  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  1736  M St., 
N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C.,  who  is  Chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee. 


*1895. 


1-1895. 


* Died  in  office. 


t Resigned. 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 


The  Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund  propose  to  publish  from  time  to 
time  papers  that  relate  to  the  education  of  the  colored  race.  These  papers 
are  designed  to  furnish  information  to  those  who  are  concerned  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  schools,  and  also  to  those  who  by  their  official  stations  are 
called  upon  to  act  or  to  advise  in  respect  to  the  care  of  such  institutions. 

The  Trustees  believe  that  the  experimental  period  in  the  education  of 
the  blacks  is  drawing  to  a close.  Certain  principles  that  were  doubted  thirty 
years  ago  now  appear  to  be  generally  recognized  as  sound.  In  the  next 
thirty  years  better  systems  will  undoubtedly  prevail,  and  the  aid  of  the 
separate  States  is  likely  to  be  more  and  more  freely  bestowed.  There  will 
also  be  abundant  room  for  continued  generosity  on  the  part  of  individuals 
and  associations.  It  is  to  encourage  and  assist  the  workers  and  the  thinkers 
that  these  papers  will  be  published. 

Each  paper,  excepting  the  first  number  (made  up  chiefly  of  official  docu- 
ments), will  be  the  utterance  of  the  writer  whose  name  is  attached  to  it, 
the  Trustees  disclaiming  in  advance  all  responsibility  for  the  statement  of 
facts  and  opinions. 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


An  Address  by  President  Gilman. 

Reported  by  the  Southern  Workman,  and  printed  in  that 
Journal,  December,  1896. 

An  occasion  like  this  suggests  delightful  memories, — such 
as  those  to  which  your  attention  has  been  called, — of  Slater, 
the  philanthropist ; of  Armstrong,  the  inspiring  leader ; and 
of  many  others  who  have  worked  in  their  spirit.  It  suggests 
congratulations  to  Dr.  Frissell  and  his  staff  of  teachers,  on 
this  addition  to  their  means  of  instruction.  It  suggests  en- 
couragement to  all  who  are  engaged  in  the  uplifting  of  the 
Negro,  and  anticipations  of  even  better  results  in  the  future 
than  have  been  attained  in  the  past. 

What  does  this  assembly  represent?  On  the  one  hand, 
those  who  stand  for  the  best  that  the  white  race  has  produced, 
the  fruit  of  many  generations,  developed  under  the  sunshine 
of  freedom,  religion  and  education ; and,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  who  represent  the  capacity,  the  hopes,  and  the  prospects 
of  races  but  lately  emerging  from  bondage  or  barbarism,  error 
and  illiteracy.  The  light-bearers  are  here,  ready  to  hand  to 
the  light-seekers  the  torch  which  shall  illuminate  the  path  of 
progress. 

Have  you  never  seen,  in  a lecture  on  Natural  Philosophy, 
two  mirrors  so  constructed  and  so  placed  that  the  rays  of  a 
lighted  candle  are  collected  upon  one  reflector,  and  sent  to  the 
opposite  reflector,  and  there  so  concentrated  as  to  light  a candle 

5 


6 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


placed  in  the  focus  of  the  latter?  This  image  may  illustrate 
our  attitude  to-day.  Those  who  have  freely  received  the 
light  bestow  it  upon  those  who  stand  in  need.  Giving  does 
not  impoverish.  The  two  candles,  when  they  are  burning, 
shed  more  light  and  heat  than  one. 

What  does  this  occasion  signify  ? It  signifies  that  the  work 
of  Hampton,  already  most  successful,  is  to  be  enlarged  and 
made  better.  A new  building,  constructed  by  private  gener- 
osity, is  now  opened  for  instruction  in  the  methods  which 
underlie  those  trades  that  must  be  practised  in  every  part  of 
the  country. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I invite  you  to  “A  Study  in 
Black  and  White,”  leading  up  to  an  appreciation  of  the  re- 
wards of  skillful  work,  the  pleasures  of  exertion. 

Two  papers  have  lately  been  prepared  for  the  John  F. 
Slater  Trustees  by  Mr.  Henry  Gannett,  of  Washington ; the 
one  devoted  to  the  movement  of  the  colored  population,  its 
vitality,  its  rate  of  increase  in  different  regions  and  its  tenden- 
cies toward  city  life ; the  other,  an  original  study  (not  to  be 
found  elsewhere)  of  the  occupations  of  the  Negro,  as  shown 
by  the  data  collected  in  the  last  United  States  Census.  With 
these  statistics  should  be  read  Dr.  Curry’s  paper  in  the  same 
series,  on  the  Progress  of  the  Education  of  the  Negro ; and  a 
still  more  recent  summary,  by  the  same  high  authority,  on  the 
general  progress  of  Education  in  the  Southern  states  during 
the  last  thirty  years,  presented  last  October  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  Peabody  Educational  Fund. 

The  study  of  these  papers  will  assure  anybody  that  the 
results  that  have  been  accomplished  since  the  war  are  simply 
astounding.  Great  exertions,  indeed,  have  been  put  forth, 
and  great  sacrifices  have  been  made.  Large  sums  of  money 
have  been  contributed  by  private  individuals,  and  generous 
appropriations  have  been  devoted  to  public  instruction  in 
almost  every  Southern  state ; but  the  outcome  far  surpasses 
the  highest  anticipations.  For  example,  in  the  Hampton 
Institute,  we  may  see,  in  a microcosm,  what  is  in  progress 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


7 


throughout  the  vast  territory  of  the  United  States.  I will 
not,  however,  deny  that  Hampton  stands  at  the  front  among 
the  agencies  devoted  to  the  education  of  the  colored  people. 

Never  in  the  record  of  mankind,  before  our  times,  have 
millions  of  slaves — whose  ancestors  in  former  generations 
had  been  the  children  of  ignorance  and  superstition — re- 
ceived in  a day  the  privileges  of  citizens,  become  equal  before 
the  law  and  entitled  to  all  the  rights,  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities of  freemen.  We  are  dealing  at  Hampton  with  a few 
hundreds  of  the  more  intelligent  and  capable  of  their  race. 
The  same  work  goes  on  at  Tuskegee  and  elsewhere,  but  these 
select  and  favored  scholars  are  chosen  out  of  eight  millions  of 
the  blacks,  and  these  eight  millions  are  but  the  forerunners  of 
a hundred  millions  who  will  come  after  them.  It  is  no 
wouder  that  the  statesmen,  the  philanthropists  and  the  sci- 
entific men  of  the  world  are  looking  with  profound  interest 
upon  the  solution  of  a problem  which  is  unprecedented  in  the 
history  of  mankind. 

Now  let  us  bring  to  mind  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  in 
this  country.  Congress  has  conferred  upon  the  Negro  the 
rights  and  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship.  Churches 
of  all  denominations  are  spreading  the  gracious  influences  of 
the  Christian  religion.  Private  philanthropy  gives  special 
education.  The  action  of  every  state  in  the  Union  maintains 
public  schools.  Thus  we  may  say  that,  in  this  country,  the 
black  man  is  receiving  or  has  received  through  the  white  man 
three  great  benefits — political  freedom,  the  Christian  religion 
and  the  opportunity  to  acquire  knowledge. 

At  the  present  time  we  can  only  consider  the  third  of  these 
great  opportunities.  As  I have  already  said,  the  public 
school  system  is  open  to  the  blacks  as  to  the  whites  through- 
out the  Union.  Opportunities  are  also  provided  for  the 
exceptional  cases  that  require  professional  instruction.  There 
are  also  special  foundations,  some  managed  by  the  states 
and  some  by  beneficent  associations,  some  supported  by  public 


8 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


funds  and  some  by  private  or  ecclesiastical  liberality,  and 
some  by  partial  aid  from  the  Slater  and  Peabody  funds. 
Such  is  the  work  now  going  forward. 

Let  us  look  toward  the  future.  The  education  of  a race  is 
a very  complex  subject  if  we  think  of  it  as  a whole ; but  if 
we  remember  that  the  education  of  a race  means  the  educa- 
tion of  the  individuals  in  that  race,  the  problem  is  simplified, 
for  we  quickly  perceive  that  the  training  of  every  person 
involves  three  elements — the  formation  of  habits,  the  acqui- 
sition of  skill  and  the  performance  of  work.  Accordingly, 
that  institution  or  school  is  best  which  enforces  habits  of 
order,  attention,  obedience,  discrimination,  memory ; which 
then  secures  skill  in  handcraft  and  redecraft,  and  likewise 
shows  how  these  habits  and  this  skill  may  be  applied  in 
useful  avocations. 

Careful  observers  are  agreed  that  among  the  blacks  there  is 
at  this  time  the  special  need  of  well  trained  teachers,  artisans, 
and  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  that  Hampton  and  other  Institu- 
tions engaged  in  kindred  work  should  introduce,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  methods  of  “ the  new  education  ” which  have 
been  developed  among  the  whites  during  the  last  half  century. 
This  “ new  education,”  as  it  is  called,  is  largely  the  education 
of  the  hand. 

During  the  present  generation,  there  has  been  a remarkable 
change  in  the  instruction  of  whites  in  schools  of  every  grade, 
from  the  Kindergarten  to  the  University.  In  one  form  or 
another,  handcraft  has  been  restored  to  the  place  from  which 
it  was  long  excluded  by  rede-craft.  The  change  has  not  been 
accomplished  without  experiment,  controversy,  difficulty,  and 
failure ; but,  at  last,  I think  we  may  claim  that  the  victory  is 
won  and  that  no  scheme  of  study  can  be  regarded  as  complete 
unless  the  study  of  books  is  constantly  supplemented  by  the 
study  of  objects.  The  young  must  be  taught  to  acquire  knowl- 
edge by  the  observation  of  nature  and  her  forces,  as  well  as 
by  reading  the  observations  of  others  respecting  nature ; and 
the  character  must  be  developed  not  merely  by  the  exercise  of 


A STUDY  US’  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


9 


memory  and  by  the  interpretation  of  written  documents,  but 
also  by  the  training  of  our  youth  to  useful  occupations. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  useful  occupations  are  as 
varied  as  the  ages  of  men  and  the  wants  of  civilized  society. 
The  pen,  the  pencil,  the  needle,  the  knife,  the  retort,  the  lathe, 
the  carpenter’s  chest,  the  blacksmith’s  forge,  the  microscope 
and  the  telescope,  the  dynamo,  the  steam  engine — all  of  these, 
vastly  as  they  differ  from  one  another,  are  implements  by 
which  handcraft  is  acquired,  by  which  work  is  performed. 

Experience  has  shown  that  this  training  may  have  four 
objects, — any  one  of  them,  or  all. 

First : — The  training  of  the  hand,  which  should  begin  in 
very  early  life  and  should  never  be  given  up, — or  Manual 
education. 

Second  : — The  employment  of  this  training  in  useful  pur- 
suits and  occupations,  especially  those  of  fundamental  value, 
like  working  in  wood,  metals,  bricks,  stone,  etc. — or  Industrial 
education. 

Third  : — The  acquisition  of  some  important  art  or  trade, 
the  making  of  artisans,  builders,  mechanics,  skilled  farmers, 
etc. — or  Technical  training. 

Fourth  : — The  advancement  of  knowledge  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  research, — or  Scientific  training. 

Do  not  suppose  that  the  boundary  lines  between  these  four 
groups  are  sharp  and  clear ; each  overlaps  the  other.  The 
most  advanced  chemist  and  electrician  is  still  disciplining  his 
hand  to  greater  facility.  The  work  of  the  surgeon,  as  long 
as  he  practices,  is  in  the  discipline  of  his  hand.  He  is  fitly 
called  a chirurgeon,  a hand-worker. 

Let  us  now  think  of  three  callings  in  which  many,  perhaps 
most  of  the  Hampton  graduates,  are  likely  to  be  engaged. 

1.  Teachers.  It  used  to  be  thought  that  anybody  could 
teach  who  knew  a little  more  than  the  scholar.  Now  it  is 
demonstrated  that  methods  of  instruction  are  just  as  im- 
portant as  the  matter  of  instruction  ; that  good  teachers  must 
know  the  best  arts  of  awaking  the  dull,  guiding  the  way- 


10 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


ward,  and  developing  the  promising  ; and  that  they  themselves 
should  be  trained  in  handcraft.  Women  are  especially  fitted 
for  this  work,  particularly  in  elementary  schools.  Dr.  Stan- 
ley Hall,  in  a recent  speech  at  South  Hadley,  pleads  for 
chairs  of  pedagogics  for  women,  ‘ not  only  because  she  does 
most  of  the  teaching  in  the  world,  but  because  the  school  is 
good  almost  in  direct  proportion  as  it  becomes  like  home.’ 
Now  teachers  must  be  themselves  fitted  for  their  vocation. 
They  must  learn  how  to  awaken  in  their  scholars  a love  of 
exertion. 

2.  Farmers.  The  whites  have  only  just  waked  up  to  the 
importance  of  training  men  to  be  farmers.  In  a recent  notice 
in  the  North  American  Review,  Mr.  Harwood  has  summed 
up  the  experience  of  the  United  States  since  the  first  Agri- 
cultural College  in  the  United  States  was  established  in 
Michigan  in  1857,  and  the  first  Experiment  Station  in  Con- 
necticut in  1875.  Anyone  who  will  look  at  that  report,  or 
at  the  papers  printed  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, or  at  such  illustrations  of  the  work  of  that  department 
as  are  on  exhibition  constantly  in  Washington  and  occa- 
sionally elsewhere  (as  at  Chicago,  Atlanta,  &c.),  will  perceive 
that  to  be  skilled  in  agriculture  is  to  be  skilled  in  one  of  the 
most  interesting,  the  most  complex,  the  most  difficult  and  the 
most  useful  of  all  human  occupations.  When  intelligence 
guides  the  operations  of  the  farm,  those  operations,  those 
pursuits  are  elevating,  stimulating  and  rewarding. 

3.  Artisans.  Under  this  term  may  be  included  all  who 
work  in  any  branch  of  the  mechanical  arts  or  with  any  kind 
of  instrument  or  machine.  The  progress  made  in  industrial 
education,  within  the  limits  of  a single  generation,  is  mar- 
vellous. Prior  to  the  great  exhibition  in  Philadelphia,  little 
was  known  as  to  the  methods  suitable  for  training  artisans. 
Scientific  schools  had  indeed  been  established  for  advanced 
professional  life,  and,  to  some  extent,  technical  institutes  were 
provided  for  the  training  of  chemists,  engineers  and  the  like ; 
but,  in  this  country  at  least,  the  training  of  mechanics  had 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


11 


been  very  much  neglected.  The  exhibition  just  referred  to 
brought  clearly  before  the  American  teachers  the  processes 
devised  by  Dellavos,  a Russian,  in  1868.  The  keynote  to 
the  methods  that  he  employed  was  this,  “ Instruction  before 
Construction.”  Professor  Woodward,  of  St.  Louis,  declares 
that  this  made  a revolution  in  industrial  training.  Read  his 
article  on  Manual  Training  in  the  new  edition  of  Johnson’s 
Encyclopaedia. 

In  a valuable  report  by  Mr.  Addis  on  Negro  Education, 
lately  printed  (U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education)  I noticed  the  remark  : 
that  nearly  all  the  schools  for  the  blacks,  say,  in  their  cata- 
logues, that  their  principal  object  is  to  teach  the  ‘ Dignity  of 
Labor  ’ ; and  another  writer,  in  the  Southern  Workman. 
makes  a similar  remark.  I would  rather  speak  of  the  Enjoy- 
ment of  Work;  enjoyment  which  may  have  these  elements: 
the  acquisition  of  a livelihood  for  oneself  and  others,  or 
pecuniary  reward  ; the  pleasure  of  exercising  the  powers  of 
body  with  which  we  are  endowed ; and  the  employment  of 
skill.  In  other  words,  there  may  be,  there  should  be,  in 
rightly  directed  labor,  moral,  physical  and  intellectual  enjoy- 
ment. 

The  very  history  of  the  word  “ work,”  if  you  will  look  it 
up,  is  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  civilization.  From  the 
Greeks  to  the  Saxons,  from  the  Saxons  to  the  English,  from 
the  English  to  the  Americans,  from  the  Americans  to  the 
Africans,  the  word  is  handed  down.  ‘Work,  work,  work,’ 
has  distinguished  every  progressive  and  prosperous  race. 
‘ Sloth,  sloth,  sloth,’  has  been  the  characteristic  of  decadence 
and  imbecility.  The  writer,  the  poet,  the  musical  composer, 
the  artist,  are  remembered  by  their  ‘ Works.’  The  builder,  the 
farmer,  the  artisan  are  good  or  bad  workmen.  The  president 
of  the  United  States,  the  editor  of  a great  newspaper,  the 
head  of  a large  school,  the  owner  of  great  factories,  the  leader 
of  an  army,  and  the  navigator  of  a ship,  work  harder,  if 
they  are  successful,  than  the  clerks,  the  type-setters,  the  assis- 
tants, the  soldiers  and  the  sailors  they  employ. 


12 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


Those  who  are  interested  in  the  uplifting  of  the  blacks, 
believe  that,  next  to  freedom  and  religion,  the  greatest  boon 
that  the  more  favored  can  bestow  upon  the  less  favored,  is  to 
give  them  opportunities  for  becoming  skilled  4 workmen.’ 
It  may  strike  some  of  you  with  surprise  when  I say,  that 
work  is  one  of  the  greatest  privileges  enjoyed  by  mankind. 
For  one,  I give  thanks  every  day  that  I have  the  capacity, 
the  opportunity  and  the  taste  for  work,  and  I wish  that  every 
man  and  woman  in  the  land  could  have  the  same  satisfaction 
that  I enjoy  in  the  performance  of  daily  tasks. 

May  I urge  upon  you,  my  hearers,  a like  recognition  of 
the  pleasure  of  work — not  mere  animal  exertion,  although 
that  may  have  its  pleasures,  but  the  combination  of  intelli- 
gence with  labor.  As  President  Hayes  said  : ‘Add  to  labor 
intelligence  and  to  scholarship  handicraft.’  Or,  as  Booker 
Washington  said  in  his  Fifteenth  Report : 1 Right  here  comes 
the  value  of  industrial  education  combined  with  first-class 
literary  training ; it  has  a modifying,  sobering  influence,  re- 
sulting in  teaching  the  colored  youth  that  the  road  to  the 
highest  permanent  success  and  development  is  by  slow  grada- 
tions, and  nature  permits  of  no  reversal  of  the  process.’ 

It  is  idle  to  suppose  that  the  evils  of  poverty,  of 
ignorance,  or  of  misfortune  can  be  removed  by  simple  acts  of 
legislation.  Good  government  can  do  much  to  protect  the 
society  over  which  it  rules ; but  it  can  never  affect  the 
operation  of  the  natural  law  that  work  brings  prosperity 
and  sloth  brings  misery.  We  all  do  well  to  remember  what 
President  Cleveland  said  at  Princeton  : ‘ When  the  attempt 
is  made  to  delude  the  people  into  the  belief  that  their  suffrage 
can  change  the  operation  of  natural  laws,  I would  have  our 
universities  and  colleges  proclaim  that  those  laws  are  in- 
exorable and  far  removed  from  political  control.’ 

My  appeal,  then,  to  the  scholars  of  Hampton  is  this : 
wherever  your  lot  may  be  cast,  in  the  city  or  in  the  town,  in 
the  schoolroom  or  the  shop,  on  the  farm  or  on  the  railroad, 
be  exemplars  of  skilled  labor,  and  never  listen  to  those  who 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


13 


would  lead  you  to  think  that  you  can  rise  by  any  other 
process  than  the  exercise  of  your  own  free  will  and  the 
exertion  of  your  own  intelligence.  The  same  laws  govern 
the  whites  and  the  blacks ; human  nature  is  the  same  every- 
where, and  the  sooner  everybody  discovers  that  the  con- 
ditions of  success  in  life  are  dependent  upon  toil,  intellectual 
or  physical,  or  both  combined,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the 
entire  community. 

Here  are  the  words  of  a distinguished  economist  of  Eng- 
land, addressed  to  his  own  countrymen,  and  all  the  more 
impressive  to  us  because  the  lesson  was  not  called  out  by  any 
desire  to  deal  with  questions  which  divide  and  concern  us : 

‘ The  growth  of  society  has  been  distorted  by  partial  and 
injurious  laws,  and  the  distortion  will  not  be  removed  by  the 
removal  of  the  causes  which  induced  it.  You  cannot  as  the 
adventurer  in  the  Greek  comedy  does,  take  the  nation,  and, 
by  some  magic  bath,  restore  it  from  decrepitude,  disease,  vice, 
dirt,  drunkeuness,  and  ignorance,  to  manliness,  health,  virtue, 
self-respect,  sobriety,  knowledge,  forethought,  and  wisdom,  at 
a stroke.  It  will  need  long  years  of  patient  and  disappointing 
labor  before  the  marks  imprinted  by  centuries  of  misrule  and 
wrong  doing  are  effaced.  And  furthermore,  the  renewal,  if 
it  is  to  come,  cannot  be  imposed  from  without.  It  must  be 
developed  from  within.  Beyond  the  removal  of  positive  mis- 
chief, which  it  has  in  past  times  created,  the  legislature  can  do 
little  more  than  give  every  freedom  it  can  for  innocent  energy, 
and  check  all  the  mischief,  as  far  as  is  possible,  which  comes 
from  the  strong  domineering  over  the  weak.  If  it  does  too 
much,  it  enfeebles  enterprise  and  discourages  practical  wisdom. 
If  it  neglects  to  adequately  protect  the  weak,  and  thereby 
gives  license  to  selfishness  and  fraud,  it  permits  a trouble  for 
which  it  has  assuredly  to  find  a remedy.’ 

In  concluding  these  remarks,  let  me  express  a belief  that  the 
distinction  between  the  two  races  is  as  permanent  as  the 
distinction  between  the  colors  white  and  black ; that  this 
distinction  is  natural  and  cannot  be  set  aside  by  human 


14 


A STUDY  IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE. 


action  ; that  the  lessons  of  history  make  it  clear  that  differ- 
ences of  race  are  ineffaceable,  by  legislation  or  volition.  They 
are  doubtless  implanted  in  us  for  some  purpose  which  our 
limited  intelligence  is  unable  to  descry.  It  is  of  no  conse- 
quence whether  we  Mike  to  think  so’  or  not.  The  stars 
move  in  their  orbits  without  regard  to  mortal  wishes.  Whites 
or  Blacks,  it  is  our  duty  to  recognize  what  is  true ; to  make 
each  race  as  good  as  it  can  be  made;  to  discover  and  develop 
such  qualities  as  tend  to  its  improvement;  to  eradicate  those 
which  are  degrading;  to  help  the  people  that  are  downcast, 
by  giving  them  the  uplifting  influences  of  freedom,  religion 
and  education ; and  especially  to  teach  them  the  uses  of 
skilled  labor ; and  then — it  is  our  duty  to  leave  the  outcome 
to  Providence — never  forgetting  and  never  hiding  the  fact 
and  never  fearing  to  say,  that  deeper  than  all  distinctions  of 
race,  is  the  basis  of  human  nature ; lower  down  than  all  the 
idiosyncracies  by  which  human  nature  is  differentiated  we 
find  the  Brotherhood  of  man  and  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

In  a Northern  University,  looking  westward  over  Cayuga 
Lake,  stands  a granite  bench  on  which  Goldwin  Smith  has 
engraved  the  words,  ‘Above  all  nations  is  Humanity.’  Here, 
facing  southward,  on  the  portal  of  one  of  these  halls  I would 
inscribe,  ‘ Beneath  all  race  distinctions  is  the  Brotherhood  of 
man  ; above  all  men  is  the  Fatherhood  of  God.’ 


JOHN  MURPHY  A CO.,  PRINTERS, 


BALTIMORE. 


